


I Can Hear Your Heartbeat

by Klance_Convert



Category: Rise (TV 2018)
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Opening Night, Realizations, Word Of Your Body Reprise, i'm not being very original but take it, idk - Freeform, it's another fanfic of the woybr scene in full, spring awakening - Freeform, woybr but Soft™
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 09:05:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14734052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Klance_Convert/pseuds/Klance_Convert
Summary: “I always thought when I was on stage, I could just… act. That I could be anyone. That I’d be safe. I don’t feel safe.”Because it wouldn’t  be acting, would it? When he went out there, he wouldn’t be able to separate truth from fiction. He’d be baring his heart in front of a crowd, to a boy he’d been trying so very hard to forget.





	I Can Hear Your Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! This is my first fanfic for Rise, and of course it's Siremy content. It's been awhile since I've written anything for any fandom, so I hope you enjoy!

Simon sensed the presence of the audience to his right as he walked onto the stage. The spotlights on him made them dark and blurry, but he knew they were there. His dad, his mom, his sister, sitting out in the seats. It was so warm under the stage lights. Or maybe that was just him. His heart was thrumming in his chest, so loud he was sure the audience can hear it, and he was sure his hands were shaking.

 

_ “I always thought when I was on stage, I could just… act. That I could be anyone. That I’d be safe. I don’t feel safe.” _

 

Because it wouldn’t  be acting, would it? When he went out there, he wouldn’t be able to separate truth from fiction. He’d be baring his heart in front of a crowd, to a boy he’d been trying so very hard to forget.

 

_ Deep breaths, Simon.  _ He could do this. He was Hänschen. Flirty and confident and sure. Play Hänschen.

 

He turned his focus to Jeremy, sitting on stage, a peaceful expression etched across his face, and felt his heart stutter in his throat. He looked out into the audience as if scanning the horizon. “Those bells,” he started, recordings of Stanton’s own chapel bells playing in the distance, “so..peaceful.”

 

Jeremy flinched lightly at his voice, the way it had been in practice weeks ago. “I know,” he responded, a light blush staining his cheeks. “Sometimes, when it’s quiet in the evening like this, I imagine myself as a country pastor. My red cheeked wife, my library, my degrees,” he looked at Simon with a face full of joy, “Boys and girls who live nearby give me their hands when I go walking.”

 

Simon pushed down the flutter in his stomach as he gave Jeremy a look. “You can’t be serious,” he said, with the corners of his mouth twitching upward to show he wasn’t being mean. He shook his head gently, smiling fully now to himself. “Really, Ernst, you’re such a sentimentalist! The pious, serene faces you see on the clergy… it’s all an act- to hide their envy.”

 

Jeremy gave a confused look as Simon sat down next to him, his blue-grey eyes wide. Simon stared back for a second before snapping back into character. He patted Jeremy’s knee reassuringly. “Trust me, there are only three ways a man can go. He can let the status quo defeat him, like Moritz. He can rock the boat, like Melchior, and be expelled. Or,” he paused for a second to scoot closer, “he can bide his time, and let the system work for him. Like me,” he added, gesturing to himself.

 

“Think of the future as… as a pail of whole milk!” he explained, as if he had just come up with the idea, “One man sweats and stirs- churning it into butter- like Otto, for example. Another man frets, and spills his milk, and cries all night. Like Georg.” He grinned mischievously. “But me, well,” he leaned in closer, “I’m like a pussycat. I just skim off the cream,” he made the gesture of doing so, lightly licking the tip of his index and forefingers with a smirk. Jeremy blushed profusely, and Simon saw that line between acting and reality blur. “S-skim off the cream?” he stuttered.

 

Simon nodded once. “Right.”

 

Jeremy furrowed his brow. “But what about the-”

 

Simon laughed, trying not let his nerves come through in the cue.

 

“You’re laughing,” Jeremy questioned. He started to crack a confused smile, Simon’s laughter wanting to infect him. “What?” Hänschen?”

 

The piano began to play the intro of their song. Simon’s heart gave another start, knowing was coming. Wavering slightly, he lift his microphone to his lips, and began to sing.

 

“Come cream away the bliss,” he sang sweetly, “travel the world within my lips,” he leaned in closer, only to pull away as Jeremy moved forward, teasing him. “Fondle the pearl of your distant dreams, haven’t you heard the word of your body?”

 

He slowly stood and circled around Jeremy, hearing his heartbeat in his ears, “Oh, you’re gonna be wounded, oh, you’re gonna be my wound,” he kneeled at his other side. He could feel the tension growing between them and threaten to burst. He took Jeremy’s hand gently, “oh, you’re gonna bruise too,” placed a kiss on his hand, saw his gaze slowly wash over him“oh you’re gonna be my bruise.”

 

They were so close now. Jeremy’s stare was so intense he could hardly breathe. His time had run out. He could hear Lou in the back of his head.  _ Do whatever version of the scene you’re comfortable doing _ . So what did he want? What did want to do?

 

But staring into Jeremy’s eyes, he felt the audience and the stage just melt away. The worries that filled his head, consuming every waking thought, dissipated into the night. It was just the two of them, there, in the moment. And it was then that he was sure of what he wanted to do.

 

He cupped Jeremy’s face in the palm of his hand, his eyes fluttering closed. Time seemed to slow down as he leaned in, tilted his head, and brought their lips together.

 

He felt Jeremy gasp into the kiss, threading his fingers into his hoodie, pulling him in closer. Any trailing thoughts that had been present in mind disappeared for thoughts of  _ soft _ and  _ warm  _ and  _ right.  _ He had never felt anything like this; not with Anabelle, not with any other stage kiss he’d had before. He knew for sure that it wasn’t just a moment for Ernst and Hänschen, but for him and Jeremy.

 

Eventually he had to pull away, keeping his face cupped in his hand. “Oh god,” Jeremy whispered, just barely loud enough for the audience to hear. 

 

Simon smiled, “I know,” he answered, voice soft and winded. “When we look back, thirty years from now, tonight will seem unbelievably beautiful.”

 

Jeremy leaned back into him. “And...in the meantime?”

 

Simon felt himself melt into the other boy. “Why not?”

 

He pulled Jeremy into their next kiss, this time breathing into it, pulling him tighter. He suppressed noise from rising from his throat, head swimming as he pressed against him harder.

 

It was actually Jeremy who broke off the kiss, seemingly the one between the two of them who remembered they had an audience, and a show to do. “On my way here this afternoon, I thought perhaps we’d only talk.”

 

Simon scrunched his face, “so are you sorry we-?”

 

“No! I-I love you, Hänschen. As I have never loved anyone.”

 

God, did that line do things to Simon’s heart. He was going to have to go to the nurse after this performance, make sure he didn’t have a heart attack. He rubbed his thumb lovingly against Jeremy’s cheek. He smiled kindly. “And so you should.”

 

Jeremy lifted his microphone, beginning his own verse of the song. “Oh, I’m gonna be wounded, oh, I’m gonna be your wound.” His voice was so beautiful, soft and clear.  _ Perfect _ , he thought. He lifted his own mic once again to completely their song, “Oh, I’m gonna bruise you, oh, I’m gonna be your bruise.”

 

And the lights went dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Kudos and comments are appreciated. Both detailed reviews and incoherent screaming are welcome.
> 
> Follow me on tumblr! My main is [@klance-convert](http://klance-convert.tumblr.com/) or you can follow me on my sideblog [@lostin-melody](https://lostin-melody.tumblr.com/) to listen to me scream about Rise and other musicals


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